The Six Flags amusement park was abandoned after Hurricane Katrina. These pictures were taken 6 years after Katrina.

In a bay thirty miles northeast of San Francisco lies several dozen retired Navy ships, which served in four wars. These “ghost ships” are slowly being scrapped one-by-one, and by 2017 they’ll all be gone. Fortunately, photographer Scott Haefner and his friends sneaked past 24-hour patrols to photograph these heroic relics.

In a bay thirty miles northeast of San Francisco lies several dozen retired Navy ships, which served in four wars. These “ghost ships” are slowly being scrapped one-by-one, and by 2017 they’ll all be gone. Fortunately, photographer Scott Haefner and his friends sneaked past 24-hour patrols to photograph these heroic relics.

In a bay thirty miles northeast of San Francisco lies several dozen retired Navy ships, which served in four wars. These “ghost ships” are slowly being scrapped one-by-one, and by 2017 they’ll all be gone. Fortunately, photographer Scott Haefner and his friends sneaked past 24-hour patrols to photograph these heroic relics.

In a bay thirty miles northeast of San Francisco lies several dozen retired Navy ships, which served in four wars. These “ghost ships” are slowly being scrapped one-by-one, and by 2017 they’ll all be gone. Fortunately, photographer Scott Haefner and his friends sneaked past 24-hour patrols to photograph these heroic relics.

In a bay thirty miles northeast of San Francisco lies several dozen retired Navy ships, which served in four wars. These “ghost ships” are slowly being scrapped one-by-one, and by 2017 they’ll all be gone. Fortunately, photographer Scott Haefner and his friends sneaked past 24-hour patrols to photograph these heroic relics.

In a bay thirty miles northeast of San Francisco lies several dozen retired Navy ships, which served in four wars. These “ghost ships” are slowly being scrapped one-by-one, and by 2017 they’ll all be gone. Fortunately, photographer Scott Haefner and his friends sneaked past 24-hour patrols to photograph these heroic relics.

Bodie
Location: Bodie, California, United States
Story: The poster boy for a ghost town, Bodie is absolutely stunning in its dereliction. The boom-town over 8,000 feet up in the Sierra Nevadas was a gold rush outpost, and, at its height in the 1880’s, allegedly one of the largest cities in California. 65 saloons lined the dusty mile long main street, meaning the saloon to resident ratio was definitely high enough to keep the sheriff busy. Beyond the swilling of brews though, Bodie developed into a city filled with big town characteristics like churches, hospitals, four fire departments, and even a Chinatown district. Today, visitors are free to to walk the deserted streets of this town built on gold and hope.
Abandoned since: 1942, though the last issue of the local newspaper, The Bodie Miner, was printed in 1912.

Centralia
Location: Centralia, Pennsylvania, United States
Story: The entire city of Centralia was condemned by the state of Pennsylvania and its zip code was revoked. The road that once led to Centralia is blocked off. It is as if the city does not exist at all, but it does, and it has been on fire for almost fifty years. In 1962, a fire broke out in a landfill near the Odd Fellows cemetery. The fire quickly spread through a hole to the coal mine beneath the city, and the fires have been burning ever since. Smoke billows out from cracks in the road and large pits in the ground randomly open up releasing thousand degree heat and dangerous vapors into the air. The city has been slowly evacuated over the years, though some residents have chosen to stay, believing that the evacuation is a conspiracy plot by the state to obtain their mineral rights to the anthracite coal reserves below their homes. Smells like lawyers to me.
Abandoned since: still marginally occupied by 10 or so brave souls

Ghost Island
Location: Hashima Island, Nagasaki, Japan
Story: During the industrial revolution in Japan, the Mitsubishi company built this remote island civilization around large coal deposits in the Nagasaki islands. The island is home to some of Japan’s first high rise concrete buildings, and for almost a century, mining thrived on the island. At its peak, the 15 acre island housed over five thousand residents - coal workers and their families. Today, a post-apocalyptic vibe haunts the abandoned island and the dilapidated towers and empty streets exist in a creepy industrial silence. In 2009, the island opened to tourists, so now you can take a trip to explore the Ghost Island’s abandoned movie theaters, apartment towers, and shops.
Abandoned since: 1974

Kolmanskop
Location: Kolmanskop, Namibia
Story: Once a successful diamond mining community, Kolmanskop is now a desert ghost town where the houses welcome only sand. The desert city was originally built when Germans discovered great mineral wealth in the area. They built the town in an architecturally German style with a ballroom, a theater, and the first tram system in Africa. The desert reclaimed the town when the miners moved on. The sands have filled houses, covered the streets, and slowly erased most signs of civilization aside from the towering homes and public buildings. The sight of a decaying German town in the shifting sands of the Namib desert is anachronistically delightful.
Abandoned since: 1954

Craco
Location: Craco, Basilicata, Italy
Story: Built on a summit, Craco’s utility was initially derived from its ability to repel invaders. The town’s placement on a cliff precipice also threatened its integrity. After being rocked by a number of earthquakes and subsequent landslides, Craco was abandoned for lower ground. Today, the empty village is great for exploration and houses a number of interesting old world churches such as Santa Maria della Stella.
Abandoned since: 1963